This invention is concerned with an improved container for storing and displaying articles, particularly compact discs. More particularly the present invention is an improvement over U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,554 (Cowan, Jul. 24, 1995).
Containers for storing or displaying articles are well known. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,694,954; 4,702,369; 4,718,547; 4,759,442; 4,760,914; 4,771,883; 4,773,061; 4,805,769; 4,871,065; 4,881,640; 4,899,875; 4,916,567 and 5,383,554; and PCT Application WO 87/05884. All of the documents identified herein, including the foregoing, are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties for all purposes.
Some of the foregoing documents concern containers comprising insertable drawers. Patents of Herr (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,771,883, 4,881,640, and 4,899,875) relate to a drawer for storing discs within an outer housing. Tab members prevent the drawer from being completely withdrawn from the housing, and there are means for preventing outward movement of the drawer unless sufficient force is used. Stark (U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,061) relates to a carrier for a disc, comprising releasable latching means on the carrier frame for selectively engaging a disc and urging the disc into engagement with disc support means. Grobecker (U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,567) relates to a tray that is inserted into a bottom section and a latching element that latches a retaining element in its closed position. Frost (PCT WO 87/05884) concerns a shell, a drawer that can slide to and fro in the shell, and lock means for retaining the drawer inside the shell in a closed locked position. When pressure is applied to the lock means, the drawer is released from the closed locked position. Philosophe (U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,369) relates to a storage container having a drawer-like receptacle and shell-like cover for releasably supporting the drawer-like receptacle.
The most relevant of the foregoing patents is Cowan (U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,554), which is specifically incorporated herein by reference. In the container of that patent, the rear spine of the tray card sometimes caught on the rear cross brace of the tray, which is indicated as 310 in FIG. 44 of that patent. There is a suggestion in Cowan's patent for use of a tray that "may consist of little more than two side bars that help maintain the . . . tray in the proper position in the container and one or more narrow cross-pieces that connect the side bars." (Col. 20, lines 33 to 37.) There is a problem with such an arrangement with only one narrow cross-piece at the end of the tray at the opening of the container. The problem is that the end parts of the legs of the U-shaped tray tend to snag on the housing and prevent the proper functioning of the tray in the container.